Wednesday, July 15, 2015

I've spent the past couple weeks organizing my house to get ready for a cross country move from the South to the Midwest at the end of this month. One of the things that needed the most attention was my craft room.

Back in 2012, I came across an idea to use cardstock comic boards as mini fabric bolts and got my fabric stash all organized. In the beginning the comic boards were great, but over the years, they started to become a problem for me.

Like I said, the day I wrapped all of my fabric around the nice new boards, things were awesome. They seemed sturdy enough as long as I wasn't wrapping more than two yards on them. Since I sew just about every day and am always "shopping" my stash before I head out fabric shopping, those boards were getting wrapped and unwrapped left and right. I started to notice that after I would unwrap/rewrap the fabric around the board a couple of times the boards started to tear, bend, and not look so neat. So I started throwing out the boards periodically as they got ugly and never bothered to replace them. Before I knew it, I was back to my original problem of having piles of fabric and not being able to find what I was looking for.

I've been keeping my smaller cuts of fabrics in my Raskog Cart from Ikea. I try to keep things organized by colors and it's been mostly functional, but after a while it too started to fall into disarray.

It's so full that each time I pull a cut of fabric out, the surrounding fabrics come out as well, and trying to put the fabric back without having to reorganize a whole row of fabric is tricky.

I know some people swear by the comic boards, but after using them for 3 years I knew that I wanted something more permanent that I wouldn't have to always be replacing. Plus, my raskog cart system for smaller cuts just wasn't cutting it! ;) I am pulling fabrics on a weekly if not daily basis, so I needed to switch it up in the organization department. It was time to bring in the big guns.

I had the opportunity to test out some Polar Notion fabric organizers last November and the difference was considerable! I started with just a handful of boards, but I got hooked and knew that I wanted to fully convert my stash and get rid of the comic boards all together.

This will make more sense if you have used the comic boards, but the comic boards are smaller than the original polar notion boards and are an awkward size to wrap the fabric because I had to fold it in thirds to wrap it. They are just the right sizes that you just fold the fabric in half and it fits perfectly.

2. They are made out of sturdy plastic and do not bend like the comic boards. They say you can wrap an entire bolt of fabric on one of the original sized polar notion boards. I don't quite have an entire bolt of fabric to test out that theory, but I did wrap 7 yards onto one and had no problem doing it. The fat quarter sized Polar Notion boards can fit up to a yard of fabric on them so they are perfect for quilters that buy small cuts of fabric.

3. The Bolt Buddy Clips. They are an awesome way to secure your fabric to the boards. When I was using the comic boards, I used straight pins to secure my fabric to the boards. After a couple years of being in the fabric, a couple of my pins started to wear out and luckily I caught them in time and no fabric was ruined. I had no idea a straight pin would start rusting like that! (Both the clips and the boards are archival safe so no worries when using them to store your fabrics)

AFTER:

I have wrapped all of my fabric on both sizes of the Polar Notion boards and used the bolt buddy clips to secure them. I am so happy with the result! My stash is nice and neat again and a lot more manageable.

The shelf that holds my yardage looks similar to when they were wrapped on the comic boards, but it is so much neater now. I love that they stand up straight and hold their shape no matter how many times you wrap or unwrap the fabric.

The biggest change in my stash storage is my fat quarters (and smaller cuts of fabric- I have eighth yards, quarter yards, half yards on these too). I can't get over how much I love being able to see what I have now that it is neatly organized on a shelf. They are so cute and tiny! I just love them!

I searched high and low for the perfect shelf to organize my fat quarter Polar Notion boards and I found it! There were a couple more expensive options, but in the end budget won out, and Ikea saved the day. (And in all honestly, I like this Ikea option better the other two shelves I found that would have worked so the fact it was cheaper was just a plus. It's almost like this shelf was made for these!)

I used this Besta Frame($35) and bought 2 shelves($3 per shelf), which made it just the right height to store 3 rows of mini fabric bolts.

I bought two frames (with 2 shelves each) and I plan to hang them side by side on the wall in my new craft room. They will look like cabinets minus the doors. :)

So far I was only able to get just a couple shelves organized so I could take some pictures for my post, but like I mentioned above, we are in the process of moving so I had to start boxing up my freshly wrapped fabric and wasn't able to take pictures of it all completely set up.

As soon as I get to my new place, and have all of my shelves up with fabric put on them, I will do a post with my entire craft room and pictures of the full makeover.

So pretty!! I have such a soft spot for organized fabric in rainbow order! :) I would love to win the fat quarter size for sure! :)

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Sewing!

xoxo, Ashley

{full disclosure: This post was sponsored by Polar Notions. I was not compensated any money to write this post, but did receive the boards and bolt buddies to transform my stash. All views are my own.}

Hi! I've been wanting to organize my stash and I recently read about comic boards. But now I will read about the Polar Notions boards before I make my decision. Thank you for the opportunity to win something from Polar Notions. If I'm so lucky, I would like to try the original size. Debbie😊🌺👍🏼

Your organization is making my organization look pretty sad. Ugh. I really, really need to work on making my room more functional just to save myself time. These boards look like a great answer to my problems...at least one of them! Either size would suit me, but would probably use more of the original size. Thanks for the review!

I have several large drawers full of FQs. They barely close now, and you have to empty the entire drawer while looking for fabric.�� I'm in serious need of organization. Would love to win th FQ size. Thanks erikamwalden at yahoo dot com

It looks so fantastic Ashley, and I'm so glad you wrote this post! I can see your stash already shine in your new studio! It would be an awesome start to get my fabrics out of the boxes, I would love to try them! Cross my fingers for your move!!! Alex xox

I am so glad you "found" these storage boards by Polar Notions. I found th em at quilt show in Pennsylvania a few years ago and just love them! However, I am in need of some more of the Original Boards...lolLooking at fabric on shelves in this neat and tidy way, makes me happy. :) ladybug_458@yahoo.com

I have been using my sons comic book boards for ages! Ugh... Can't hold much! He is so eager for me to stop asap! I'm not even allowed to tell anyone they are his.... Too uncool! Lol! Would love to try these out! Save my son's "cool factor!" Lol! kristahynds@gmail.com ( full size!)

Your stash looks beautiful! I so needs to organize mine and these boards look perfect. Thank you and Polar Notions for the chance to win. Good luck with the move and I can't wait to see photos of your new sewing space!

Looking great. Think I would like to try the fat quarter size. Good luck on your move. Having made 21 military moves in 23 years, I can attest that it is an adventure as well as a challenge. But, my stash always looks new and exciting in it's new home.

I am so excited to see this post, because I was just about to invest in comic boards, and this is so much better! Currently, my fabric is stored in tote bags, so I have to pull it all out whenever I start a project. But this will make the fabric so accessible! Thank you for posting it!

I hear you on the comic boards! They're not sturdy enough for my needs. I've gotten in the habit of cutting down cereal boxes to comic board size, but they're only a little sturdier. I'm thinking Polar Notions is the way to go.

Oh my goodness...looks like an awesome solution! I have mostly a smaller size stash and use a combination of items to organize them, but nothing works well! Thanks for the chamce to win! And for the IKEA tips!!

I hope I am not too late for the giveaway. These Polar Notions sound just like what I need to organize my stash. I would prefer the smaller size to start with. Thanks for sharing and offering a giveaway. Good luck with the move.